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From reader Leebert comes this notice: NASA will hold a conference this afternoon to explain the process the agency will use to select the next class of astronauts. According to the announcement, "NASA will recruit its next astronaut class through the federal government's USAJobs.gov website. The class of 2009 was the first astronaut class to graduate in a new era of space flight following the final mission of the space shuttle. A new fleet of human spacecraft is in development by commercial companies to deliver crews to the International Space Station. NASA also is developing spacecraft to send humans on missions of exploration far away from our planet." Says Leebert: "I plan to apply, because I want to be able to say: 'Not everybody can be an astronaut. I know, they sent me a rejection letter.'"

My brother, who is in medical school, and had no real qualifications, applied to Virgin Galactic's Astronat position a few months ago. Here's their responce:

Dear [name]
Thank you very much for your interest and application for the first
Virgin Galactic Pilot-Astronaut positions.
Despite the very demanding qualifications, we had over 500
applications, the vast majority from very well qualified and experienced
test pilots. As you can imagine, filtering down such a large pool of
talent and having to leave out many highly respected test pilots, as
well as a few flown astronauts, was an extremely difficult task.
We were able to invite just eight of this group forward to the next
stage of the process and I regret to inform you that we were unable to
include you. We appreciate that this may be a major disappointment but
it is no exaggeration to say that we received a great deal of interest
from some of the world’s very best and highest qualified pilots.
Thank you for your application and interest in Virgin Galactic and we
wish you the very best in your future career.
With regards,
Virgin Galactic Careers

Funny, how does piloting a plane in the atmosphere, qualify to being strapped inside a capsule and launched into space. The computer does all the work. Like Elon Musk said, it is just a Dragon with Biological cargo.

Now I know that Virgin is the SpaceShipTwo design, but that too is mostly a rocket craft and limited flight control. Not a real astronaut either.

Piloting a plane in the atmosphere is related to being an astronaut in at least one important way: The ability to orient yourself without reliable visual or gravitational cues and then think clearly and rationally despite disorientation. Even if your only job is to change the oil in the Mars rover, you will need to have experience remaining calm and working in unusual orientations.

There are very few other occupations that prepare you to keep cool and operate controls under varying gee-forces.

Admittedly, most of spaceflight happens with the thrusters off, but if you get spooked by the idea of sudden acceleration, you are not going to operate well in a spacecraft. And you may not think that you'll be spooked, but there's a reason acceleration is measured is Gees--that is, multiples of Earth's gravity. You'll suddenly, and briefly, weigh several times as much as you ever have before.

Jet pilots in particular experience abnormal gee forces with pretty much every flight. Test pilots have to train to recover from all kinds of ghastly aerodynamic fuck-ups. The sort of conditions they can recover from, or can't bur prepare for, would leave you horrified.

one good example from history. read about the Gemini 8 mission and the capsule spinning wildly out of control at an increasing rate approaching the point where astronaut would become unconscious. Armstrong fired the correct thrusters to bring it under control, then made re-entry low on fuel and survived. Sometimes the experience pays off, I'd say.

One thing to note is that virgin and NASA have different requirements.

Virgin want test pilots, sure the computer may do most of the work but what they need in the pilots seat is someone who can remain calm and make rational decisions under the conditions of flight gone wrong. Hell I wouldn't even really call what virgin are doing spaceflight.

NASA otoh do want some pilots but they also want astronaughts with other specilisations. This will be especially true if NASA ever manage to set up a base on the moon o

Only 500? Wow, I thought it'd be much higher than that. OTOH, I imagine those are 500 mostly incredibly qualified people. As a side note, I imagine NASA has enough test pilots recruited from the air force, so a highly-qualified scientific background is likely to be more useful for them. The website notes that the astronauts will be doing research, so a medical student might actually have some qualifications for them to consider. Not enough, certainly, but the chances are better, while Virgin Galactic seems

A friend got denied from Virgin. He was a test pilot too. I thought he was shoe in but the current state of space travel has Astronauts that have been in space applying for jobs at Virgin. NASA & Virgin publicly asking for resumes is a PR stunt. The applicant pool for these candidates is very small. NASA knows well in advance who they want to become astronauts and applicants know well in advance what it is they are trying to achieve.

At a very young age I started working toward becoming an astronaut. I studied math early. I wasn't a natural at it but I could do it. I got my PhD in physics at 29 (and a private pilot license). I started seriously looking at applying, but discovered I was three inches too tall. It wasn't something I had really ever looked in to. I was fit and seemed qualified, but just too tall. Something I had zero control over. I got really depressed, gained a lot of weight, and my mom said you're moving with your aunti

64k, even with government benefits would be on the very low side for a PhD in science or a qualified pilot of jet aircraft. It's on the low side for engineering, maths, comp sci, chemistry and physics with just a bachelors and 3 years experience too.

It's not far off from a professors salary (which is low for science or engineering), but the starting is low, and you spend a lot of years training. The 141k isn't bad, and presumably you get promoted out of the astronaut programme eventually.

You get paid, to train for years, for the possibility of maybe going into space, at some point in the future, if russians will still send people there, or if the US government can actually get something working off the ground, and have enough capacity for you. But if the next government that rolls in says "robots in space!" and the government after that says "manned mission to mars" and then the next government says "satellites! lets refocus on earth's problems"

64k, even with government benefits would be on the very low side for a PhD in science or a qualified pilot of jet aircraft

I think the minimum was 1000 hours. Which isn't a lot (most airlines don't even consider you until you hit 2500, so it's the regionals for the most part). And regionals barely pay much above minimum wage.

A pilot's salary is actually pretty piss-poor. A pilot making 6 digits flying the nice birds had to get there basically through 30 years seniority and the like. It's why airline mergers

Right, but you're not going to get the job with 1000 flight hours compared to a fighter pilot with 4000. In the same way that a bachelors could theoretically get the job, but odds are they're going to be taking PhD level people unless you happen to be sleeping with or related to someone on a NASA oversight committee.

But ya, you're right, any old jet pilot can be paid very poorly, but even military pilots, 64k is in the 6-8 years experience range (depending on how you include all their various allowances).

I remember this from the 1983 movie, couldn't recall from the Ed Sullivan show (was very young, didn't remember this specific person). This comedian is probably not shown on DVDs of Ed Sullivan show. But I have seen him on old VHS made from 16mm film by a person that has a huge collection of videos, including shows no longer available from commercial sources.

and (from the wiki bio).... one of the X-15 rocketplane pilots has the name Bill Dana. I wonder how often he was ragged on that one during the 1960s (or unless he imitated the comedian from the X15 cockpit).

Some years ago an article described candidates going through the final interview stages. A candidate would sit in front of a panel who would ask various questions, i.e. aircraft programs they worked, their research projects, etc. Candidates describe their activties... then one of the panel members pops the question, "So, why do you want to be an astronaut?" This question typically catches the candidates flatfooted, they usually stumble for an answer. There was one candidate, didn't really know what to say answered, "uhmm, my dad was an astronaut, my granddad was an astronaut. It just runs in the family!" He was chosen (I forgot the name).

It has been mentioned all astronauts are military pilots (70% including mission specialists) so unless you already have chosen that route, then other option is researcher/engineer (the other 30%). Of the latter group, they were already working for NASA (or as a contractor at a Center). Very few, i.e. Mae Jemison, from the "outside" were selected. So if you are rejected but if they offer you a job at NASA, ***take it*** because they are interested in you and want to look at you more closely. This was written about 10 years ago so maybe much has changed. A recent slashdot discussion talked about astronauts probably don't need to be military pilots having fast reaction skills like in a fighter jet these days, much of the spaceflight are very long (i.e. ISS) so a different kind of person is needed.

I haven't pursued an astronaut position as many/. readers know it requires much passion. Steve Hawley (flew on HST deployment) said they look at candidate's records for kinds of work they do, does it focus and lead to astronaut position? A candidate said he has always wanted to be an astronaut but they asked why did he spend seven years with Shell Oil? However, some positions could lead to astronaut. A Navy diver, an officer, observed spacewalking was much like underwater (heck they even train in water!) so she focused her efforts, applied and got accepted (though I'd not be surprised she was first rejected, most accepted have been rejected before).

How many people will apply just so they can prove to the unemployment office that they are "looking for work"? I saw that in retail years ago. Guy came in, filled out application. My boss was like, "you just want this checked off". They guy was like "uh-huh". Kinda funny to imagine that happening at a NASA complex with all the big hangar buildings and rocket displays.

I am a Danish, 24 year old guy, but the absence of a American citizenship shouldn't count me out. Here is why:

- Since the age of 3, I have had an astonishing ability to find my way around in the dark. Space is pretty dark. This skill will definitely come in handy. Otherwise I'm pretty handy with a flashlight.- I absolutely love soup. This is fantastic, since it is highly probable to be on the space menu. I can eat like seven bowls of soup in one sitting. Sometimes eight. Depends on the soup.- My grandmother always used to scream out; Alexander! GET DOWN FROM THERE! You know why? Because I climbed. I climbed everything. The ISS will be a piece of cake to get around.- I'm 6'1" and I weigh around 172 pounds (depending on how much soup I've had), which is an absolutely perfect match for an astronaut. I won't take up too much space in the spaceship, and I can reach the top shelf - even when weightless.- I played ice hockey for 9 years and I live in Scandinavia. Subzero temperatures won't ever be a problem. I enjoy eating ice cream while walking outside in the snow.- I am currently studying journalism at the University of Southern Denmark. This makes me an absolute master of any language and a valuable member of any constellation of professions, known to mankind - but I will of course drop out, should you pick me for the position.- As I am an excellent conversationalist, the ride from Earth to the ISS won't be boring. I read a lot and I am an avid quiz contestant, my broad knowledge and social abilities will definitely be awesome to have on the rocket.- I could bring a keg or two of beers along, if needed. I understand you guys are a bit pressed for cash at the moment.- I am fluent in whatever language I get to study for 3-4 years, which is absolutely vital for the survival of earth, should I be captured by hostile hesitant aliens.and lastly, I am a true master of disguise. I can look like a astronaut, a scandinavian, an american, an alien or a goldshoed clown croc kitty (see attached photograph). [Hello Slashdot: https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/308748_10150340417636211_722201210_9759559_2148778_n.jpg%5D [akamaihd.net]

I am versatile in every manner.

Looking forward to hearing from you, and to our future adventures together.

Thank you for your application. We have an expedited need for astronauts for our current rocket test program, but have encountered inexplicable reluctance from our current candidates. We need people with your forethought, blind courage and determination at NASA. Therefore you have been summarily accepted into the Astronaught program. We would like you to start immediately. In fact so urgent is our need that we will not have time to train you. Also our rocket design keeps changing week to week

...but speaking as someone who happens to work down the street from the Johnson Spaceflight Center (for a major aerospace company), I can tell you that while the approach towards recruiting an astronaut is a little unusual, it is what you should expect for a government job nowadays. Gone are the days of NASA going to the Air Force and saying "give us two dozen of your best and brightest who you think might make good astronauts", and it's a major competition.